Oil-well packer



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-8baan 1.

L.v STEWART. OIL WELL PAGKER.

No. 248,229. Patented Oct. 11,J 1881.

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(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. L. STEWART. OIL WELL PAGKEB..

' Patented Ot. 11,1881

UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE.

LYMAN STEWART, OF TITUSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

OlL-WELL PACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 248,229, dated October 11, 188,1. Application filed November 24, 1880. (No nodel.)

To 'all whom it may concern.-

Bet known that I, LYMAN STEWART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Titusville, in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Oil-VVellPackers and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and 'exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or 1i gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specication.

Figure lis a vert-ical section of a packer having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of another packer, showing one part ofthe invention. Fig. 3 is a detached part, enlarged, showing a modification of this latter part of the invention. Fig. Ltrepresents a packer having a rubber annulus with the first part of my invention applied thereto.

The first part of myimprovement is designed more particularly to be used in the construction of packer patented to me December 25, 1875, No. 171,589, in which a fibrous packing is applied externally to a tube in connection with a telescopic joint, orits equivalent, whereby, when the upper section of tubing is forced downward relative to the packer support or anchor, the packing material is compressed and forced tightly against both the Vtubing and the wall of the well; but this part of my invention may be used advantageouslyin packers in which material other than fibrous is employed, the essential features ot' this part of the invention consisting in combining with the eduction-tube of an Artesian well a packing material surrounding said tube, and having its outer surface corrugated or ribbed, with a mechanism for expanding the packing material laterally and pressing it against the wall of the well by compressing it in a longitudinal direction when'the weight ofthe superincumbent tubing is allowed to act upon said packlng.

The second part of my invention relates to the employment of legs to support the packer against the downward thrust of the superincumbent tubing, whereby certain advantages are secured, as will be hereinafter-set forth.

Referring to Fig. 1, A is the eduction-tube, through which oil is discharged.

B represents the upper portion of the anchor or packer-support, and may consist of a ring, a ange, or a section of casing, so constructed as to admit of the legs IIbeingattached thereto by riveting, as shown in Fig. 3, or by any other usual or approved means. By preference I construct these legs of ilat bars of iron rounded and threaded at their lower ends to receivethreaded sleeves or couplings i, to which are connected extensions I I', which may be continued by the addition of successive lengths to the bottom of the well. By preference I use for these extensions small gas-pipes; but round rods of iron may be employed. a is a ring attached to the' lower end of ednctiontube A, and ladapted to engage with the part B and support the same when the tubing is put into and drawn from'the well.

C represents a brous packing material attached at its lower end to the part B, and at its upper end to a flange or ribbed coupling, A', which may also be employed to connect sections of the tubing.

C C G2 are rings applied to the fibrous packing, preferably by having the packing braided around them while said packing is being applied ,to the tube A; but the rings may be applied to the packing after said packing has been braided upon the tube, if so desired.

It will be readily understood from an examination ofFig. l that as the packing is compressedby the weight of the superincumbeut tubing, the anchor being supported from downward movement, the rings will restrict the outward expansion of the packing at the points where they are placed and adjacent thereto. Thus theyperform twofunctions: First, they counteract the tendency ofthe packing to telescope, which would exist were it not for their presence; and, second] y, they compel the outer suvface of the packing to assume a corrugated form during the operation of compressing it against the wall ofthe well. Constructing the packer with its outer surface thus corrugated facilitates an effectual packing of the Well,becauseit insures a practically uniform density of the packing throughout its entire length, and by causingits close contact with the wall of thewell at several points, becausev this form IOO compels it to bulge between the rings as the packing is acted upon by the weight ot' the tubing. In Fig. 4 I have shown this part of my invention applied to a rubber annulus. E, in which five rings, F F F2, are seated during the process of manufacture, such rings being placed at a greater or less distance from the outer face of the rubber, as may be required. In Fig. 2 I have shown the second part ot' my invention applied to the packer patented to me March 6, 1877, No. 187,990, in which the anchor-ring Gr is about tive inches outside dimetenaud has applied thereto wide tlat legs An advantage grows out ofthe use ot' these legs instead ot' a large tubing or casing,which is usually employed, from the fact that they are much less liable to be wedged or held tirmiy in the lower part of the well by the pieces ot' rock which are detached therefrom when the well is torpedoed, while by arranging the legs upon substantially opposite sides of the ring or casing B,I provide for the reception of the eduction-tube between said legs.

I do not wish to be limited to the employ ment of any particular construction of rings in connection with the packing material to restrict its outward expansion, as many modifications ofthe forni which I have shown might be made without departing from the spirit ot' my invention.

I am aware of the patent to Parker, dated October 2, 1866, and that said patent showrra packing having the grooves extending around its outer surface, whereby the said packing is adapted to be pressed against the wall of the well at a number of points intermediate between its upper and lower ends; hence I do not claim anything therein shown or described. But the groove in the Parker packing is spiral in forni, and therefore, instead of serving to more ei'ectually pack an oilwell by reason of its impingement against the surface at several points, as above mentioned, the said groove would operate to conduct water from the upper to the lower part ot' the well; whereas in my construction the grooves are formed in substantially horizontal planes, and without there being any opening or passageway for water between one groove and the other.

I am also aware ot' the patent to Moulton, March 14, 1865, and hence do not claim anything therein; but the Moulton patent shows no means for pressing the upper edge of his lower cup against the wall of the well, except in case water passes the upper cup. Neither does he show any mechanism within the control of the operator for expanding the rubber cups and forcing them against the wall of the well.

I am also aware of the Patent No. 49,599, to Siconret, and do not claim anything shown therein; but my construction possesses marked advantages over Sicourets. For instance, an examination of Fig. 2 in his patent shows that he intended that the thin plates of his packer should be pressed close together when the device is operated to pack a well, and hence, as the edges of his plates are flat, they constitute a cylindrical annulus of substantially uniform diameter from top to bottom, and which is not corrugated on its outer face when in use. Again, it' a well could be packed by the Sicouret device without pressing the plates close together, his combination of parts is such as to necessitate the use of washers to make tight joints around the rods which extend from the lower ange to the top ot' the well; otherwise water would leak down between the plates and the rods, from the fact that the holes through the plates must be oblong to permit the plates to assume their various positions, while the combination which I employ-that is, ot' an annulus having its outer ends corrugated with two sections of tubingconneeted by a telescopic joint-permit meto use an annnlus which is substantially homogeneous and solid in texture from end to end, because no rods pass through it. Again, the rods in Sicourets packing compel all ot' the plates to expand uniformly, whereas in my construction the central ribs which are formed by the corrngations may be, and in practice are, iirst expanded against the wall of the well by the downward movement of the upper section of tubing, the continued descent ot` the tube forcing the upper vpart ot' the packing against the wall of the we ll, thus preventing the upper part from being first eX- panded against the wall of the well, and then forced downward, thus avoiding scraping the packing material against the rock. IlNor do I claim in this case the combination, with the packing material, ot rings adapted to restrict its outward expansion, as I prefer to claim such invention in another application which I am about to filenas a division of this case..

1. In an Artesian-well packer, the combination of the t'ollowingelemen ts, namely: an eduction-tube adapted to rise and fall within the well, an anchor or packer-support below the upper sliding section of tubing, and a yielding packing material surrounding the eductiontube, aiid provided upon its outer surface with corrugations which extend around the packing in substantially horizontal planes when the material is elongated for introduction into the well, and which is adapted to be pressed against the wall of the well by the weight of the sliding tube-section, substantially as set forth.

2. In au Artesian-well packer, a packer-support having two or more legs arranged on opposite sides ot'a central opening, whereby there is an unobstructed' space between thelegsadapted to receive the eductiou-tube, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LYMAN STEWART.

Witnesses:

N. R. BATES, J AMES A. PINcoTr.

IOS 

